Container Cargo ship and Cargo plane with working crane bridge in shipyard background, logistic import export background and transport industry.

Maritime Vessels: what are the types?

Maritime vessels in international trade are a type of maritime transport of export goods, these are vessels carrying large amounts of weight. In addition to this, they can navigate very long distances.

Ships are classified into different categories, these categories range from cargo and passage to fishing and warfare, merchant ships belonging to the cargo category, in turn, merchant ships are also classified according to two criteria, the first criterion is the route of transport and the second cargo.

Today we will talk about the types of maritime vessels that exist, in order to learn a little about their characteristics and uses.

Types of maritime vessels

General cargo ships

Also known as a multipurpose vessel or general cargo vessel, this vessel carries out the transport of dry goods. Most of them are used for the transport of loose merchandise and do not carry out the transport of merchandise in containers, very heavy loads or special loads, like other maritime vessels this vessel is equipped with specialized equipment for loading and unloading of merchandise.

Bulk Carriers

Bulk carriers are part of the types of maritime vessels and are responsible for the transfer of dry loose merchandise, within this type of merchandise we find minerals, grains, cement, among others they also transport merchandise whose weight determines the price of the trip, as well as the previous type of ship, this also has enough equipment for loading and unloading of merchandise, which saves you the use of port machinery.

Container ships

Within maritime transport, container ships represent 52% of the transfer of all merchandise, its name is due to the fact that the cargo they transport is protected in containers, the containers can be open-top, flat rack, high cube, with the platform, tank containers and refrigerated.

Roll-on / roll-off maritime vessels

This type of maritime vessels has the function of transporting merchandise with wheels, this merchandise can be automobiles and depending on the complexity of the vessel, even trucks and heavy machinery with wheels.

Reefer maritime vessels

The merchandise transported in international trade is very diverse, for this reason, there are different types of maritime vessels, refrigerated ships have the task of transporting merchandise with special heat treatment, protected products can be refrigerated or frozen.

Oil tankers

Crude oil ships or oil tankers are intended to transport oil, in international trade these ships are the largest vessels, they are capable of transporting more than 318,000 deadweight tons.

Liquefied gas vessels

Within the merchant ships, we can also get a ship destined for the transport of liquefied natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas, this type of vessel transports its merchandise inside cylindrical tanks located on the deck of the same.

Chemical cargo ships

This type of chemical vessel is used to transport chemical products, these products are stored in stainless steel tanks or with a coating to avoid corrosion, these vessels can transport more than one type of chemical product due to their size and they have more than one tank.

Cattle maritime vessels

This livestock vessel is used for the transport of live animals, the animals that are transported are cattle, sheep, and goats, the animals are protected in two ways, the first is corrals located on decks and the second is inside the temperature regulated boat.

Ships for project cargo

These project cargo ships specialize in transporting from small vessels to larger ones that exceed it in structure, they can also transport semi-submersible vessels and oil platforms.

Singapore the world’s number one marine shipping center

According to the development index from the Xinhua-Baltic International Maritime Transport Center, Singapore established as the world’s largest marine shipping center for the seventh consecutive year, followed by London and Shanghai.

Singapore once again leads the logistics sector this year after positioning as the world’s leading marine shipping center.

So its confirm by a report from the Development Index of the Xinhua-Baltic International Maritime Transport Center published on July 11 by the Baltic Exchange in collaboration with the Chinese state news agency, Xinhua.

The index provides an independent ranking of the performance of the world’s largest cities offering port business and marine shipping services.

Why is this?

According to the index, its due to its geographic location advantages, the shipping industry, and government support policies.

The executive director of the Singapore Maritime and Port Authority, Quah Ley Hoon, described the news as positive and reiterated his commitment to remain leader of this list.

¨”We are committed with our shipping companies, industrial partners and unions, and we’ll endeavor to maintain our position as a leading international maritime center and as a world central port” he said.

What other countries are in the ISCD Index?

On the other hand, high-end financial, insurance and legal services for marine shipping give London second place in the index.

While Shanghai rose to third place as it’s considered the largest port in terms of container traffic, due to the constant improvements they implement in port facilities.

Hong Kong drop to fourth place due to declining freight performance and falling rankings compared to other places in areas like ship brokerage, insurance, and legal services.

Meanwhile, Dubai remained fifth for the third year in a row as the preeminent marine shipping center in the Middle East.